Craig O'Shannessy, Author at Brain Game Tennis

2016 US Open Analysis: The First 4 Shots

Tuesday, 30 August 2016 by Craig O'Shannessy

US Open Round 1 Metrics. Numbers are the language of winning. G’day from New York! When you walk around the practice courts in the morning here at Flushing Meadows, you hear a cacophony of shots flying all over the court. Forehands and backhands dominate, and it seems like the players hardly.ever.miss. They keep rallying and

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US Open Qualies Day 1

Wednesday, 20 August 2014 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from New York, Qualifying for the U.S. Open started Monday and it was great to walk around the courts and see all the players in action. It’s an ideal time to see young up-and-comers for the first time and get a feel for the new names and faces of the next wave of players

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Hosting a Radio Talk Show Tonight!

Tuesday, 22 April 2014 by Craig O'Shannessy

Howdy! RADIO SPOT Well it’s been an absolutely fabulous week on all fronts! I hope everyone had an enjoyable Easter with family and friends. Tonight at 9.00pm central I will be co-hosting a tennis radio talk show which is going to be a lot of fun! Below is the link to listen to it and

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Day 5 – 2013 WTA Championships from Istanbul

Saturday, 26 October 2013 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, A big day on Saturday with Na Li and Serena Williams both winning their semi-final matches here in Istanbul. Li was very impressive to take down Kvitova in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 and she is the master of getting off to flying starts this tournament. Li went up two breaks of serve within a

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Day 4 – 2013 WTA Championships from Istanbul

Saturday, 26 October 2013 by Craig O'Shannessy

Good morning out there! Friday was a fun day here in Istanbul as I ventured to the Grand Bazaar in town before watching the matches in the evening. I can honestly say I have never seen anything that comes remotely close to the Grand Bazaar. Almost a quarter of a million people go through it

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Day 3 – 2013 WTA Championships from Istanbul

Thursday, 24 October 2013 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day! The highlight of day 3 was my 9.5hrs of straight sleep! Just kidding, but that was top 3 for sure. With the jet lag now full behind me I was able to have a great day at the tennis. The real highlight was the last match of the day with Serena Williams and Petra

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Day 2 – 2013 WTA Championships in Istanbul

Thursday, 24 October 2013 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, Well it really has been an extremely enjoyable trip to Istanbul so far. The highlight of Day 2 was seeing the wonderful return to form of Jelena Jankovic who defeated world #2 Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-3 for the best win she had had in three and a half years. She was composed, confident and

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Day 1 – 2013 WTA Championships in Istanbul

Tuesday, 22 October 2013 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Turkey! It has been a really good few days here in Turkey and the tournament kicked off last night with three solid matches. I wrote two stories late last night and here are the links to both of them. www.wtatour.com – A Deeper Look: Serena vs Kerber www.wtachampionships.com – In Depth on Azarenka

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2013 WTA Tour Championships – LIVE from Istanbul

Monday, 21 October 2013 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Istanbul! It is an absolute pleasure to be LIVE in Istanbul to cover the year end championships for the WTA. This is my first time to Turkey and I must say I am loving every minute of it. I went to the draw ceremony last night which was a lot of fun, followed

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Madison Westby Wins Waco ITF

Saturday, 28 September 2013 by Craig O'Shannessy

Taking Titles! Congratulations to our own Madison Westby who won her first ITF title in Waco this week. Madison, from Tulsa Oklahoma, joined the Brain Game Tennis Academy this Fall and has shown instant improvement with her aggressive game. Madison only dropped one set, which was in the final, and did not drop serve in

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ATP250 Los Angeles Rd32 Rajeev Ram defeats Paul Capdeville 6-3, 6-1

Wednesday, 25 July 2012 by Craig O'Shannessy

Wow that was quick! Rajeev just made his way into the quarter finals of the Los Angeles ATP250 with a straight sets W over Chilean Paul Capdeville in an hour and some change. Rajeev won 6-3, 6-1 and never faced a break point for the entire match. He broke Paul five times from nine opportunities

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ATP250 Newport – Rajeev Ram v Lleyton Hewitt today!

Saturday, 14 July 2012 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, I hope everyone is doing well in their tournaments this weekend! It’s a big day for Rajeev Ram as he battles Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals of the Campbells Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, RI this afternoon at 2pm eastern (live in tennis channel). Rajeev and I had a wonderful swing through

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ESPN Sloan Sports Analytics Conference – MIT, Boston

Monday, 05 March 2012 by Craig O'Shannessy

It was a pleasure to be on the inaugural tennis panel at the ESPN Sloan Sports Conference at MIT in Boston this weekend. http://www.sloansportsconference.com / @sloansportsconf / #ssac The panel was moderated by ESPN’s Mark Stein and I was joined by Paul Annacone (Roger Federer’s coach) and Todd Martin (former top #5) for the discussion. The

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Post From ATP Tour Player Kevin Anderson – The Heralded Post!

Friday, 18 February 2011 by Craig O'Shannessy

Hey tennis fans, It has been a lengthy period since my last post. I was reading an Us Weekly column and they said one of the keys to stardom is limiting the flow of data, kind of like economics: lower the supply, increase the demand! Did it work? Is the excitement level high to see

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January 2011 Review

Tuesday, 01 February 2011 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, January was a big month for the Brain Game all around the world. Developing the website, coaching players through MY Brain Game and assisting remotely at tournaments dominated the work day. Here are a few highlights from the past month. 1. Tennis Canada – Very happy to announce the Brain Game as an official

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ATP250 Brisbane – Hello from Kevin Anderson

Monday, 10 January 2011 by Craig O'Shannessy

Hey everyone, It was a fun and positive start to the year in Brisbane. It’s my second time I have been there and I really enjoyed it; good food, some good cricket (although the Aussies will leave that part out!) and I had some friends and family who were there as well. Louis and I

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The practice court is clearly broken. Here’s the proof.

Points are "front loaded". By far the majority of the action, and the winning, takes place in THE FIRST 4 SHOTS. The practice court is full of long rallies. Matches are dominated by short rallies. There is a massive disconnect occurring.

We spend too much time grinding, banging balls up and down the middle of the court – that have no real benefit to winning tennis matches.

There are 3 specific rally lengths in tennis. Here is their percentage breakdown of total points.

0-4 Shots = 70%
5-8 Shots = 20%
9+ Shots = 10%

The First 4 Shots is specifically the serve, return, Serve +1 groundstroke and Return +1 groundstroke. Those are normally the shots that get practiced the least, but matter the most to winning tennis matches.

The net is an extremely high percentage place to be!

If you love playing tennis for fun, spend as much time at the baseline as you like. But if you compete – if the score matters – then you must turn your attention to the net to maximize your potential.

The “herd mentality” in tennis thinks it’s too tough to approach the net in today’s game. The conversation starts with improved string technology, more powerful rackets, and finishes with stronger, faster athletes. The herd think approaching is a relic of the past. The herd is WRONG!

AVERAGE WIN %
Baseline = 46%
Net = 66%

Data from ALL Grand Slams provides the facts about approach and volley, and the data is crystal clear – it’s immensely better than staying back at the baseline, grinding for a living.

The baseline is a tough place to create separation. Here's how to do it.

At the 2012 US Open, only 7 men and 14 women had a winning percentage from the baseline. At Wimbledon 2016, Andy Murray won the title only winning 52% of his baseline points - and he is one of the very best at it in the world!

Num3ers deeply explores the data that rules points, especially from the back of the court. Take a "deep dive" into all three rally lengths (0-4, 5-8, 9+), and winner and errors totals from the elite level of our game. The numbers will shock you!

All 4 Grand Slams

Forcing Errors = 41% Men / 37% Women
Winners = 32% Men / 29% Women
Unforced Errors = 27% Men / 34% Women

Num3ers is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about bringing together different data sets together to create the big picture.

Every recorded match from the 2015 Australian Open - Rd2 to the final.

There is a lot happening on a doubles court. Situations and strategies are constantly being adjusted to create mis-matches with court position. It's hard to keep track of - until now. Dou8les Num3ers is the most comprehensive analysis of doubles data in our sport. The focus is on how a point ends, and it's broken down eight ways to Sunday. Specifically, you find critical information on:

Winners rise to the #1 way a point ends (over forced & unforced errors)

- The last shot of the rally is overwhelmingly struck at the net.
- Center Window: the most important part of a doubles court to control.
- Stephen Huss: an in-depth interview on Wimbledon's Centre Court with the 2005 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.

Dou8les Num3ers leaves no stone unturned. Percentage breakdowns of how often the server or receiver hits the last shot highlight the dramatic influence of the serve. The last shot of the rally is significant, and is broken down into the following categories: volleys, overheads, passing shots, lobs and groundstrokes.

When you play a match, you actually play two matches.

When you walk out onto a tennis court, there are two matches that you are about to play. The first is during the point - a part of the match that you have spent a lot of time preparing for on the practice court. But there is a second match, that takes place in the 20 seconds between the points. This is where the mental and emotional aspects of our sport kick in.

Let's face it, there will be adversity in almost every tennis match that you play. The storm clouds are coming. How bug they are, and how long they last for, are up to you.

Between the points is very tennis specific. It provides a roadmap for the 20 seconds between the points, teaching how to handle the adversity that will surely come, and how to build on the successes that will also be present. Your mind is your biggest asset in a match, and Between the Points takes your hand off the self destruct button and stops you beating yourself.

You don't have to be good at everything, but you have got to be good at something.

You can break tennis down into four key elements - serving, returning, rallying and approaching. Each part has specific patterns of play that consistently deliver higher winning percentages than the others. No more guessing. No more opinions. All facets of our sport are covered in this exceptional product, clearly outlining what patterns to gravitate to, and how to best construct the practice court. Data comes primarily from the 2015 Australian Open.

Building Blocks

MEN = 70% errors / 30% winners
WOMEN = 74% errors / 26% winners

Forcing errors is the best way to construct a point.
You can simply break tennis down into primary and secondary patterns of play - and they are all covered here. Primary patterns include serve and return direction, forehands v backhands, and the best way to approach the net. Secondary patterns include drop shots, serve & volley and 1st volley options. If you play tournaments, this product will greatly help you simplify the singles court.

The conversation starts & ends with the Center Window.

The doubles court is like an hourglass. There are two big ends, but a small neck in the middle where all the action happens. Once you learn the power of the Center Window, where you stand to start the point will take on a lot more significance.

Doubles is a lot more about situations, with four people on the court all "dancing" with one another. Learn all the best doubles patterns, broken down for the server, returner, server's partner and the returner's partner.

Doubles Situations

The "J" - the most ideal movement for the returner's partner to attack the net.

The "V" - a better way of understanding where the server's partner should move to.

Volley Targets - there are four main areas to attack. Know which ones are higher percentage. Beach Volleyball - the idea of a "setter" and "spiker" is ideal for the doubles court.

There are certain parts of the court that the ball travels to a lot, and other low percentage areas that you really don't want to cover at all - like the alley! In general, the serving team wants to keep the ball in the middle of the court as much as possible (to help the server's partner), while the returning team benefits from hitting wider and creating more chaos in the point.

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